Effects of tennis practice on the coincidence timing accuracy of adults and children.

This study examines the development of perceptuomotor processes involved in coincidence timing tasks according to age and experience in tennis. Tennis players and novices, 7, 10, 13, and 23 years of age, were tested in a coincidence timing task which consisted of estimating the arrival of a simulated moving object on a target. The effect of three different motions were analyzed: constant velocity, constant acceleration, and constant deceleration. Results showed that (1) timing accuracy improves mainly between the ages of 7 and 10 years; (2) tennis practice accelerates the development of timing accuracy; and (3) acceleration or deceleration of the moving stimulus had no effect on the timing accuracy of any of the tested groups, suggesting a continuous visual control of the trajectory. Theoretical implications for the development of perceptuomotor processes involved in coincidence timing tasks are discussed.